An investigation by two South Carolina journalists has led to the filing of criminal and civil lawsuits against the alleged culprits in an investment scam that has targeted thousands of veterans, forcing many of them into bankruptcy.
Over the past year, Kirk Brown and Carol Motsinger of South Carolina’s Greenville News have been conducting the investigation into alleged scams that involved “the buying and selling of military benefits,” a practice which, the journalists observed, “at least seven judges have ruled violates state and federal laws.”
According to Greenville News’s investigative series called Indebted, the alleged scams duped at least 3,000 victims across the country in at least 33 states, leaving many of them deeply indebted:
Many of the investors said they had no idea their savings were used to buy monthly military income. Some who did know thought they were helping veterans. One investor served in the Vietnam War. Another’s father was in the Coast Guard during World War II.
In an interview on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, Motsinger said judges have ruled that the practice of buying and selling monthly military benefits violates “anti-assignment laws.”
The alleged scams target veterans by offering them a ready amount of cash in exchange for all or part of their monthly military benefits for a determined period of time.
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